ARTICLES ABOUT GOLF CART BY DATE - PAGE 4

Roger A. Ness didn't mess around when giving haircuts or endorsements. That's why it wasn't surprising that the lifelong Republican, longtime barber, former volunteer firefighter and a mayor for two decades in Newark, Ill., tossed his support behind Democrat Bill Foster in a special election in 2008 to fill the seat of retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Hastert, the former speaker of the House. "This is pretty independent country out this way," said Foster, who won that special election and has been in office since.

Here's how necessary a recruiting coup Aaron Lynch was for Notre Dame: There was a wedding on campus over the weekend during his visit and the four-star defensive end was already in the party. In spirit, anyway. "We were on a golf cart and we went past the chapel," Lynch told reporters in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday, after announcing his commitment to the Irish. "The people out there already knew who I was. They were just yelling my name." Irish fans figuratively have screamed themselves hoarse for years coveting impact defensive line prospects, so Lynch's arrival was as soothing as a lozenge.

Naperville Crime Stoppers is offering an award of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for stealing a golf cart Nov. 8 from White Eagle Golf Club, 3704 White Eagle Drive, Naperville. Anyone with information is asked to call 630-420-6006.

An Elk Grove Village man who claimed he suffered a broken leg because of his nephew's negligent golf-cart driving failed to convince a DuPage County jury he was entitled to any money from his younger relative. Vincenzo Rendina, 56, was seeking up to $804,000 in damages from Michael Rendina, 37, of Wayne. But the jury, after two hours of deliberation Wednesday, ruled in favor of Michael Rendina. Michael Rendina was driving a golf cart on July 20, 2002, on the 18th fairway at Cantigny Golf Course in Wheaton, when Vincenzo Rendina fell from the cart and broke his left leg in two places.

The family of a woman killed last month by a golf cart at a Flossmoor country club sued the cart's driver Tuesday for negligence. Barbara Zoub, 78, a Chicago real estate broker, was playing golf at Idlewild Country Club on June 14 when she was hit by a friend, Max Traub, 81, Cook County sheriff's police said last month. She died that day, and no charges were filed at the time.

Cook County sheriff's police were investigating the death of a Gold Coast woman who died Sunday after being struck by a golf cart at a south suburban country club. Barbara Zoub, 78, of the first block of East Superior Street, was at Idlewild Country Club, 19201 Dixie Highway in Flossmoor, on Sunday when she was struck by a golf cart, according to a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. Zoub was a well-known residential real estate broker who focused on high-end properties on the Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park, according to longtime friends and business associates.

A stolen golf cart in Glenview ended up in a pond near the 18th green at The Glen Club golf course last week, police said. About 8:40 p.m. April 21, an employee of The Glen left the keys in the cart when he went into a business at 1800 Tower Drive in Glenview, police said. When he came back about an hour later, the cart was gone. The next morning, the golf cart was found in a pond at The Glen Club, 2901 W. Lake Ave.

Two men stole six golf carts valued at $21,000 last weekend from the Green Garden Country Club on the 9400 block of West Manhattan-Monee Road near Monee, Will County sheriff's police said. Video-camera surveillance tape showed the two taking two carts, returning 20 minutes later to grab two more, then returning for the last two, police said.

Hinsdale residents will soon be able to tool around town in battery-powered cars that look like golf carts but are closer to cars. The western suburb became the first in the Chicago area to approve the use of the cars, known as NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles). Several Downstate communities have approved ordinances allowing their use, and Wheeling is debating the issue. The cars resemble golf carts, but they have brake lights, turn signals and other safety equipment. They are energy-efficient and cost about $7,000 for a two-seater and $13,000 for a model that seats six. Hinsdale trustees approved their use at a Nov. 6 Village Board meeting.

Golf cart thieves were unable to complete their rounds Friday at an Evergreen Park golf course. Two would-be hijackers drove four carts from the parking lot at Evergreen Golf and Country Club to the 408-yard No. 4 hole, where a rented truck with open rear doors was waiting to cart them off, said golf course cashier Elisa Sanchez. The thieves loaded two of the carts in the U-Haul, but the truck's back wheels became stuck in the mud that remained from last weekend's rains. The thieves left empty-handed, making their getaway about 2:30 a.m. in another truck waiting on a street outside the golf course, Sanchez said.